“I didn’t come to just be a congressman again. I came to make change,” he said.

There is precedent that Salmon will hold true to his word.

Though he is a freshman in the 113th Congress, Salmon served three prior terms from 1994-2000, partly under the leadership of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

He was a constant thorn in Gingrich’s side. He called for the Speaker to step aside on numerous occasions, was reportedly complicit in a failed coup against Gingrich and orchestrated defections on some votes.

One of the most widely reported of these exploits came in March 1997. A group of 11 fiscal hawks, including Salmon, protesting increased government spending, defected on a rule vote on a rather insignificant bill to fund House committee operations.

The defections were enough to halt the bill and provoke indignation from then-Speaker Gingrich. But Gingrich ultimately had to compromise with the rebels.

“That just wasn’t done before, you know, in the traditional machinations of the Republican conference,” Salmon said. “And I think that was a good thing. We brought a different way of doing things. And it was a breath of fresh air.”

Returning back to the House today as dissent brews in the Republican ranks is like “deja vu,” Salmon said. And he is back in a parallel role to the one he occupied in the past, sending out a warning to the Speaker not to succumb to the pitfalls of past leaders.

He abstained from voting for Boehner as Speaker until the last moment earlier this year in order to put leadership on alert, though he did give him his backing eventually.

“Make sure that the rhetoric you espouse is in line with your actions,” he said, directing a message to the leadership. “You talk about pay-go, you talk about party unity. How is it really strengthening party unity when you pass a bill out of this body that goes out with a handful of Republicans and almost all the Democrats? How is that perpetuating party unity? I don’t think it is.”

The GOP House floor operation has relied on Democratic votes on three recent occasions — on a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” on the Hurricane Sandy supplemental and recently on a bill to pass the Violence Against Women Act.

Salmon and a group of 15 other Republicans earlier this month voted against the rule on the continuing resolution to fund the government, protesting their inability to vote to defund the new healthcare law.

The House has held more than 30 votes to defund all or part of the law over the last two years. But even in the face of a seemingly hopeless battle, Salmon said the party should be obligated to try. He dismissed the assertion that it would be merely a waste of time.

“The likelihood that the president would end up defunding ObamaCare is probably pretty slim,” he said with a laugh. “But I still think we have the responsibility to try. If we don’t try, then we don’t do. And if we don’t do, what are we on this earth for?”